hughes



(NaModeL) T. J. 8?; E H. HUGHES.

Refrigerator'Building No. 233,621. Patented Oct. 26,1880.

m M 2222 m m m m wa m m m NITE STATES PATENT 'FFIQE.

THEODORE J. HUGHES AND EDWARD H. HUGHES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.

REFRIGERATOR-BUILDING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 233,621, dated October 26, 1880, Application filed July 8, 1880; (No model.)

- fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of the ice-storage house embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section at a right angle to Fig. l and in the line 00 m, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a vertical section in line y :1 Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Our invention consists of an ice-storage apartment having beneath it a refrigeratingchamber, intermediate of which are closed gutters and conduits, the gutters receiving the drip of the melted ice and directing it to traps, which communicate with the conduits, whereby the gutters are cooled by the cold from the ice in the storage-apartment and the drip of the melted ice, and the conduits are likewise cooled by the drip of the melted ice, thus forming at the top of the refrigerating-chamber a cooling medium, which cools the air in said chamber and causes the condensation and discharge of the rising vapors without permitting said vapors to enter the ice-storage apartment.

It also consists of means for regulating the temperature of the refrigerating-chamber.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a house, the upper portion of which is an icestorage apartment, A, whose slatted or open floor B, on which the ice is supported, is so elevated or located as to leave below it a chamber, O, for refrigerating purposes.

D represents a series of gutters, which are suspended from the top of the joist a, so as to receive the drip of the melted ice in the apartment above, and E represents a series of troughs or conduits secured to the joists, or otherwise supported, and of such widths or so constructed that spaces exist between the sides of the conduits and joists, it being noticed that there is a gutter, D, and a series of troughs, E, between each adjace'nt joist, each series of troughs, in the present case, being two in number, one above the other, and inclined in opposite directions.

To each upper trough, E, at the head thereof, is secured a trap, D, consisting of a cylinder, pan,or case,into which projects vertically a pipe, D, leading from the gutter D above it to near the bottom of the said case. A spout, D, communicates with the side of the case at the top thereof, and overhangs the upper trough, E.

It will be seen that the drip collected by the gutters D flows through the pipes D into the traps D, and, rising in the latter, escapes through the spout D to the upper trough, E, and runs down the same to the end thereof, and falls on the lower tr0ugh,E, and runs the length thereof to a trough, 01, common to the ends of the several lower troughs, E, said trough cl having an outlet or discharge pipe, (1.

The gutters D are closed throughout their lengths, except at the openings for the pipes D, and as these pipes are sealed by the dripwater in the case of the trap D, it is evident that the vapors ascending in the chamber 0 are prevented from rising above the gutters D and entering the ice-storage chamber A;

As the gutters D are cooled from the iceapartment and the drip of melted ice, and the troughs E are also cooled by the said drip,the top of the chamber 0 is provided with a medium which cools the air in said chamber 0. The rising vapors of the chamber condense on the gutters and the troughs E and pass off with the drip, the multiplicity of the gutters and troughs providing a great cooling and condensing surface.

As the lower trough of the series E has its under side covered with wood and condensation on said side is thereby not occasioned, and the water of condensation flows off with the drip, the chamber 0 will be found to be constantly supplied with dry cold air; while the ice in the apartment A is accessiblefor removal, it is not affected by the vapors of the chamber 0, and thus preserves its purity, its cold, however, being utilized, as has been stated.

To the lower ends of the joist a of the floor are connected valves or doors F, which may have hinged or sliding motions, and each made singly or in pairs. It will be seen that when said valves or doors are opened the descent of cold air from the cooling mechanism above is not interrupted, but by closing the same the contrary is occasioned. Consequently, by the proper management of the valves or doors, opening some and closing others, we provide means for regulating the temperature of the chamber 0, as in some cases the lowest possible temperature and in others an ordinary or limited amount of cold air are requisite in said chamber.

Having thus described our invention,what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with the closed guides or gutters D, provided with short tubes D, the

traps D, surrounding said short tubes and provided with lateral outlets D, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with gutters D, forming the partition between apartments A and O, the troughs E, which receive and conduct away the moisture which gathers on the under side of said gutters D, and a series of traps which receive the melted ice from said gutters and discharge it out said troughs E, substantially as set forth.

T. J. HUGHES. E. H. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. WI-EDERsHEIM, W. F. KIROHER. 

